Video games and video game systems have become even more popular due to the marketing toward, and resulting participation from, casual gamers. Conventional video game devices or controllers use visual and auditory cues to provide feedback to a user. In some interface devices, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback) and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration or texture) is also provided to the user, more generally known collectively as “haptic feedback” or “haptic effects”. Haptic effects can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface. Specifically, vibration effects, or vibrotactile haptic effects, may be useful in providing cues to users of electronic devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to create greater sensory immersion within a simulated or virtual environment. Some gaming systems include an actuator attached to a controller housing to generate haptic effects.
Other devices, such as medical devices, automotive controls, remote controls, and other similar devices for which a user interacts with user input elements to cause an action can also benefit from haptic effects. Haptic effects may be employed in these devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to the user regarding interaction of the device.